African EduWeek

Press Release

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to be Guest at African EduWeek’s China Day on Thursday

Johannesburg, South Africa, July 09, 2014 --(PR.com)-- Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga will attend a special function to celebrate China Day at the annual SABC Education African EduWeek at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on Thursday, 10 July. The event will celebrate Chinese-South African educational and trade exchange and the festivities will take place at the international pavilion of the CEIEC or the China Educational Instrument & Equipment Corporation, a major supplier of educational and scientific equipment.

Mr Li Xingzhi, President of the CEIEC, says there are already good relations between his company and the DBE: “During February and April this year, Ms. Angie Motshekga, the Minister of South African Basic Educational Department, and her fellow officials visited the CEIEC twice, and extended great interest in Chinese educational equipment. African EduWeek is an excellent communication platform as an event of the 2014 'China’s South Africa Year', as agreed in 2013 by our two countries’ national leaders. As the most influential state-owned educational equipment company, CEIEC hopes to reinforce South African-China educational exchange through EduWeek.”

Huge market potential for AfricaThe CEIEC President sees great potential in South Africa and the rest of the continent: “South Africa is a developing country like China, we both have a lot of room for improvement in educational industry, comparing to developed countries. Educational equipment, as an important part of educational supply, relates to several different sectors such as basic education, higher education, and vocational education etc. It is one of the most important criteria of a country’s educational growth. Therefore, we can see huge international market potential for Africa’s educational equipment.”

He continues: “Secondly, South Africa as the heart of Sub-Saharan Africa has a great influence on neighbouring regions. The reason we chose South Africa as the partner of promotion and cooperation is its economic strength, stable development and the great educational infrastructure. At the same time, South Africa is the leader of SADC, which has close ties with the other African countries. These reasons make South Africa our first choice for partners.”

The company is already exporting educational equipment and instruments to Nigeria, Sudan and Ethiopia.

Mr Xingzhi adds: “We look forward to meeting the schools and the traders from South Africa and surrounding countries to introduce them to the educational products from China. We also want to understand the procurement needs of the local schools.”

The China Day celebrations will take place from 14h00 at the International China Pavilion on the African EduWeek expo floor.

The annual SABC Education African EduWeek is expected to gather some 2000 teachers and education professionals from 10-11 July at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg for an interactive conference and expo that will empower them through expert talks, introductions to classroom technology and interaction with their peers.